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Singer George Michael dead at 53

Pop singer who first achieved superstardom in the 1980s as half of Wham is dead, his publicist said on Christmas Day.

British singer George Michael arrives at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court in London, September 14, 2010. Michael arrived to be sentenced after admitting driving under the influence of drugs and possession of cannabis, according to media reports. (SUZANNE PLUNKETT / REUTERS)

George Michael sings his hit "Freedom! 90" from the closing ceremonies OF the 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in London. (STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR)

By Nekesa Mumbi MoodyGregory KatzThe Associated Press

Sun., Dec. 25, 2016

LONDON—George Michael, who rocketed to stardom with WHAM! and went on to enjoy a long and celebrated solo career lined with controversies, has died, his publicist said on Christmas Day. He was 53.

Michael died at his home in Goring, England. His publicist, Cindi Berger, said he had not been ill. No other details were released.

Born Georgios Panayiotou in London, he enjoyed immense popularity early in his career as a teenybopper idol, delivering a series of hits such as “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Young Guns (Go For It),” “Last Christmas” and “Freedom.” As a solo artist, he developed into a more serious singer and songwriter, lauded by critics for his tremendous vocal range. He sold well over 100 million albums globally, earned numerous Grammy and American Music Awards, and recorded duets with legends like Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and Elton John.

Throughout his career, his drug use and taste for risky sex brought him into frequent brushes with the law, most famously in 1998 when he was arrested for public lewdness in Los Angeles. Yet, he managed to turn the incident into fodder for a popular song that poked fun at his behaviour, and his acknowledgment of his homosexuality at that time made him even more popular with his fans.

Michael, with startling good looks and an easy stage manner, formed the boy band WHAM! with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. Helped by MTV, which was an emerging music industry force at the time, the cheerful duo easily crossed the Atlantic to become popular in North America with Michael, as lead singer, usually the focal point.

He started his solo career shortly before WHAM! split, with the release of the megahit single “Careless Whisper,” making a seamless transition. Critics generally viewed his WHAM! songs as catchy but disposable pop and gave his solo efforts far higher marks.

His first solo album, 1987’s Faith, sold more 20 million copies, and he enjoyed several hit singles including the raunchy “I Want Your Sex,” which was helped immeasurably by a provocative video that received wide air play on MTV.

The song was controversial not only because of its explicit nature, but also because it was seen as encouraging casual sex and promiscuity at a time when the AIDS epidemic was deepening. Michael and his management tried to tamp down this point of view by having the singer write “Explore Monogamy” on the leg and back of a model in the video.

At the time, Michael had not disclosed his homosexuality, and much of his chart success was based on his sex appeal to young women. His look was raw and provocative, with tight jeans, tight T-shirts, black leather jackets and designer stubble, and his videos pushed the accepted limits with many lingerie-clad models vying for Michael’s attentions on screen.

His situation changed abruptly in 1998 when he was arrested for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Los Angeles after being spotted by a male undercover police officer. The arrest received international media attention, and seemed for a brief time to jeopardize Michael’s stature as a top recording artist.

But instead of making excuses for his behaviour, he went on to release a single and video, “Outside,” that made light of the charges against him and mocked the Los Angeles police who had arrested him.

Like all of his efforts at the time, it sold in prodigious numbers, helping him put the incident behind him. The arrest also prompted him to speak openly about his sexual orientation.

These years represented the height of Michael’s commercial success, which at times was marred by a protracted legal dispute with his record company Sony.

He remained a strong musical force throughout his career, releasing dozens of records and touring to adoring crowds despite a growing number of run-ins with police, many of them stemming from a series of driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs incidents, including several crashes.

Michael was an admitted user of marijuana and prescription sedatives and several times was found slumped over his car’s steering wheel after using both at the same time.

His driver’s licence was finally revoked for five years in 2010 after Michael drove his Land Rover into the side of a photo shop with so much force that his vehicle dented the wall.

A passerby, remembering Michael’s early career, wrote the word WHAM on the spot his SUV had hit.

He was also arrested a second time in public toilets — this time in North London in 2008 for drug use, an incident that prompted him to apologize to his fans and promise to get his life in order.

He also offered an apology to “everybody else, just for boring them.”

A year earlier, he had told a television interviewer that his problems stemmed from a self-destructive streak and his attention-seeking nature.

He said at a news conference in 2011 that he felt he had let young people down with his misbehaviour and had made it easier for others to denigrate homosexuals.

Michael was active in a number of charities and helped raise money to combat AIDS, help needy children, and support gay rights.

He had a long-term relationship with Kenny Goss, but announced in 2011 that the two had broken up. That same year, Michael made headlines once again with a performance of Stevie Wonder’s “You and I,” released online as a gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton on the occasion of their wedding.

Also in 2011, he was hospitalized for pneumonia after postponing a series of concerts. In a tearful appearance outside his London home he said it was “touch and go” for a while.

It is reported that doctors performed a tracheotomy to keep his airways open.

Despite these personal setbacks, Michael’s musical performances remained strong even as his material moved farther from the teen tunes that first brought him to stardom.

The Telegraph newspaper in 2011 described a London concert appearance as an impressive event, calling his voice, “A rich, soulful instrument, it’s capable of serious emotional heft, expertly matching the confessional tone of his own material.”

The following year he performed at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, singing “Freedom! 90” and “White Light.”

In May 2013, the two-time Grammy winner was airlifted to a hospital in London, England, after being involved in an accident on the M1 motorway.

With files from Hina Alam

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